ASHFORD, N.Y. -- A voice carried across the treeless plateau:
"Fire in the hole! The range is now active."

Two dozen people fell silent before a muffled blast sent a
geyser-like shower of crushed gravel, limestone and asphalt roughly
50 feet in the air. Moments later, standing at the blast site,
University at Buffalo geology professor Greg Valentine gave an
impromptu assessment.

"That was great. It was exactly what we expected," said
Valentine, PhD, director of UB's Center for Geohazards Studies.

The experiment, a rare large-scale attempt to simulate volcanic
eruptions, is drawing international attention because it will
provide much-needed insight into one of Earth's most powerful and
mysterious natural disasters. If that wasn't enough, it may help
mining companies find diamonds.

When most people think of volcanoes, images of exploding
mountain tops come to mind. There is another type of volcano,
however, called a maar. They feature large craters, often topped by
a pool of water, near mountain ranges. Maars range from a few
hundred feet to more than a mile across.

The UB-funded experiment, which took place on land owned by
Cheektowaga-based Calspan Corp., focused on maars. It unfolded over
several days in July. The idea, according to Valentine, was not to
determine how or when eruptions will occur, but rather to figure
out what happens during and after an eruption.

Do subsequent eruptions cause the crater to expand? Will the
volcano spew enough ash to affect air travel, as did the 2010
volcanic eruption in Iceland?

To help answer those questions, Valentine and researchers built
three test beds, each 12-feet-by-12-feet square, and packed them
with gravel, limestone and asphalt, 3 to 3-1/2 feet deep.
Explosives roughly as powerful as a grenade were placed in post
holes and detonated.

Because volcanic eruptions are naturally occurring, each with
their own distinct features, it isn't possible to exactly replicate
one, Valentine said. But the test beds are an accurate barometer to
base conclusions on because researchers can control the strength of
the blast, he said.

The experiment drew the attention of Jacopo Taddeucci, PhD, a
volcanologist at the National Institute of Geophysics and
Volcanology in Rome, Italy. He flew into Buffalo for the occasion
to use high-speed cameras to record the explosions.

"Large-scale experiments like this are quite rare," he said in
between blasts.

It also piqued the interest of Manoranjan Majii, PhD, an
assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UB.
Majii used the experiment to test software he developed that
provides near instantaneous 3-D imagery of Earth's surface,
including craters.

While it's too early to draw conclusions, the experiment could
provide insight into the location of diamonds. The valuable
gemstone is brought close to Earth's surface by the funnel-shaped
mass of magma and broken rock that form under volcanoes, Valentine
said.

He will spend the next few months analyzing results of the
experiment before reporting his findings in a yet-to-be determined
academic journal. For the time being though, Valentine said he is
happy with the results.

"I've learned more today, without analyzing this entirely, as I
would if I spent an entire year reading technical papers."

Greg Valentine, professor of geology and director of UB's Center
for Geohazard Studies, is taking full advantage of land owned by
WNY based Calspan Corp. to create singular large scale simulations
of volcanic activity.